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All of those goals were easier said than done, but the last two particularly were very slow works in progress. The truth was, I was barely making it through my studies—not only was the financial strain killing me, so that I’d had to drop and defer classes, but even on the extremely rare occasions that I was able to cover all my costs, time was public enemy number one—earning enough money to have even a chance of making ends meet meant working every hour God sent, and then borrowing some from the Devil.
When I did manage to carve out time, I was so exhausted I could barely keep my eyes open, let alone absorb information or construct reasoned arguments. As for Cavanagh Corp—that really was a labor of love, and I eked out tiny slithers of time to deal with it when I could—it was nowhere near as often as I wanted, nor for as long, but it was the best I could do.
Most of the time I felt like I was shoveling shit uphill, and it was only a matter of time before it all came tumbling back down on me. In reality, the brown stuff rained down on me often, but it was a matter of putting up my imaginary umbrella, and keeping on keeping on. There was nothing else I could do—Dad needed me, and I needed to see justice served.
Not that I fancied myself as an Erin Brockovich type, but nor did I agree with Dad’s attitude of letting sleeping dogs lie. In fact, I thought he just said that as he didn’t have the energy to fight any more, like he’d said at the hospital. Life had ground him down too much to think that he could ever win, especially not against behemoths like Cavanagh Corp, who’d shown how companies with that kind of might could crush everyone in their wake. Maybe it was my age, or my pure bloody-mindedness, but either way, I was down, but not out, and definitely not ready to give up fighting.
I arrived at the golf club a few minutes before my shift, as usual, and was surprised to be greeted at the entrance by Andy, the HR director. I pulled my hat down on reflex, as I always did when I was on shift.
“Morning, Andy. I didn’t realize I got my own welcoming committee at the start of every shift. Don’t set a precedent, or I’ll be expecting this every time.”
“Uh, yeah. Umm… about that.” I took one look at his face as he spoke, and knew something was wrong. Very wrong. Actually, on second glance, his whole demeanor—the slump of his shoulders and the way he hung his head—spelled bad news. “Can you come with me to the office, please, I need to speak with you.”
“Why do I feel like I’m being summoned by the principal, or worse still, the executioner? What’s wrong?”
“This is not a conversation we can have in the royer.” I was guessing it was a conversation I didn’t want to have anywhere, but I clearly had no choice. I nodded silently, and followed him to his office out back.
Once in the room, he shut the door behind me and offered me the seat in front of his desk, smiling apologetically, before sitting down himself.
“Kevin, you know I like you, I really do…” I could feel the almightiest of buts heading my way. “...but we have rules and standards of conduct here at the club, and they must be upheld and maintained, both by staff and members alike. As you know, we take infractions of those standards very seriously.”
I knew. There was a long silence where Andy looked like he was trying not to cry, or vomit, or both.
“It has come to my attention that you’ve broken one of these codes of conduct, in a serious manner.” He looked at me questioningly, as though waiting for me to fill in the blanks. Even if I knew what he was referring to, I wasn’t about to step in and give him the rope to hang me with. As it was, I had no fucking idea what he was talking about, so I couldn’t help him out, even if I wanted to.
“It concerns sexual conduct. Or in this case, misconduct.” Motherfucker.
Now I knew. I still maintained my silence, however, just in case I was wrong.
“Unwanted sexual conduct with a guest of a club member to be exact.” Bingo.
He turned his computer screen to face me. “Do you recall this day?” He tapped at his keyboard, and the screen came to life with footage of the moment I’d grabbed Drew and kissed him in the rec room.
At the time I’d done it to have leverage over him, but it looked like I’d screwed myself over into the process. Maybe he’d been right when he’d said that I was no match for him, but that didn’t stop my blood from boiling with anger and indignation at what he’d done to me, or more accurately, what I’d inadvertently done to myself, and the conviction to make sure that he got what he deserved, along with everyone else at Cavanagh Corp.
“Unfortunately, as per section 13.vii of the employee manual, this action constitutes gross misconduct, the penalty for which is summary dismissal.”
“So, I’m fired?”
“Yes. Unfortunately, you are.”
“But I haven’t even had the opportunity to explain myself. He followed me in there. Why do you think that was? I didn’t attack him. It was a mutual thing.”
“Unfortunately, the reasons behind what you did have no bearing with the board. The rules are very clear, and they take any infractions extremely seriously.”
“Sure, sure. But I bet they’d be singing a different tune if it was a woman I’d supposedly jumped.”
“I can assure you this decision has nothing to do with your… preferences, Kevin. Their response would be the same no matter what. The rules on fraternization with guests are clear.”
“Can’t I appeal? I’ve always worked hard, and there have been no prior complaints or incidents. I’m a good worker, a good employee. Can’t this be a formal warning or the start of a probationary period, or something?”
“I’ll be honest, if it was up to me, this would be a warning. Like you say, you’ve been great until this point, and I have no reason to doubt you’d continue to be the same in the future. However, it’s not up to me, unfortunately, and try as I did to plead your case, the board wouldn’t budge. I’m sorry.”
“Please, I’ll do anything. Even if it’s not in the same role—I can wash dishes or do janitorial duties. Anything.”
“I’m sorry, there’s nothing.”
“Andy, please. You know it’s not for me. If I only had to worry about myself, I could survive with next to nothing, but it’s my dad. Apart from keeping a roof over our heads, I need the insurance. Please, I’m begging.”
